


This is War

by guyi (yujael)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M, war time story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-30
Updated: 2013-06-30
Packaged: 2017-12-16 16:25:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/864108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yujael/pseuds/guyi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're not soldiers, but the king has called them to protect their home. You will fight together and protect each other, they're told. And if it must happen, you die together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This is War

How did we get here?

The question surfaces in Michael's mind, and even if he could get words out of his throat he's not sure if he can answer it. All he can do is take another shuddering breath and hope that none of the tears in his eyes spill over. He can't cry, not now, not when the last thing Gavin will see is tears rolling down his cheeks. His cheeks remain dry, but Gavin's are wet. Not with tears. His hair is red, his face is red, and his hands are stained with it. Michael rubs his thumb slowly across Gavin's cheek, a soothing gesture. He's trying to make it all better and it's not working. Gavin's breath shakes, too, and his body trembles in Michael's lap. 

He's not crying, either. He watches Michael and his eyes are wide. They're dying and they both know it. 

The sounds of a battle raging on is all around them. Men are screaming, blades clanging. Those who had pistols lost them a long way back. They lost everything a long way back and the only reason they're still fighting is because it's the only thing left. They either die fighting, die with glory, or they die at home in their beds in a burning house.

They're dying and they all know it, and Michael's trying to make this moment all okay with a crumbling smile and a hand on Gavin's cheek. 

How did we get here?

–

They meet after the king's riders come to the village. _There's war coming_ , they say. _The king is calling the men to arms_ , they say. None of them are fighters, but what else can they do? The king is calling them to battle against an invading empire. The king is calling them to protect their home.

Michael wants to refuse. He wants to stay and look after his brother and his sick mother. But he wants to protect them, too. How can he take care of them if they can't even keep their home? So, he goes. He tells his brother to look after their mother, and he goes with the rest of the men to follow the riders back to the capital where the army is gathering.

When they get there they're paired up with a fighting partner. _You stick with your partner_ , the officers tell him. _You fight together and protect each other, and if it must happen, you die together._ He looks over and sees who he's partnered with. A tall, lean man with scruffy hair. He's clumsy and an idiot to say things lightly, but he knows how to use a short sword and knows how to fire an arrow well enough. And his eyes are lively. His last name is Free, and he reminds Michael of home. 

_But to you I'm Gavin_ , his partner tells him. Michael gives him his name, and they shake on it. 

And from then on they're always close at hand.

–

Their first battle is nothing big. He's only had a month of practice with his sword, and Gavin's still green when it comes to hitting the mark every time. When the enemy lines come over the horizon, he and his partner and the seven hundred other men holding the fort can all feel their hearts pounding in their chests. None of them are fighters, Michael thinks. We fought bugs from our crops and bears from our fish. We've never fought other men.

When the battle comes, Michael's almost overwhelmed. There are bodies all around, some are living and fighting, some are dead. The air reeks with blood and he's covered in it, the ground is so saturated with it that his feet sink in the mud it creates. Men are screaming all around him and his ears are ringing from the words clashing together and the cannons firing. It's too much, he thinks. Too much, too much, he's not a fighter – 

But Gavin is next to him. They're fighting together and they're protecting each other. Gavin's eyes are wide and wild, and they remind Michael of everything he has to lose. He has everything to lose. Everything.

He holds his sword tighter and when a man comes at him he screams, lets out a battle cry and drives his sword right through the man's shoulder. The man cries out and falls to the ground, and Michael moves on to the next one. He's fighting and fighting, and every once and while he'll have cleared away enough men to give Gavin firing room, and his arrows will streak over his head and hit the enemy before him. They're fighting together and they're going to make it.

And when the battle is done, Gavin smiles at him. Blood is splattered all over his face, his armor. Some of it is his, some of it his enemies'. But he's smiling, and Michael's smiling too, because they both made it. He's not a fighter but he's alive.

From then on, they're always looking for each others smile.

–

The first time Michael almost dies is when they're holding the bridge that crosses their great river. The enemy is trying to cross but they've had no luck. The king's men hold them back, they hold that bridge with everything they have. Michael knows how to use his sword now, and Gavin has gotten enough practice with short range firing to have a cross bow with him in each battle. The enemy forces have heard of Michael Jones and Gavin Free; the enemy is starting to fear an encounter with them in battle. 

That's just as well. Maybe that will hep them survive longer. They turn to each other, and Gavin fires a bolt as Michael stabs the man behind his partner. They smile. They are covered in blood, but they are alive. 

But then Gavin's eyes go wide. Behind you, he shouts, readying a bolt. Not fast enough. Michael turns, and the man behind him has a pistol. - rare and deadly. Michael doesn't even lift his sword before the enemy soldier pulls the trigger, and smoke goes up as the bullet rips through leather and skin. Michael staggers. He doesn't feel anything for a few seconds, but then the pain in his abdomen is unlike anything he's ever felt. He drops his sword and tries to stem the blood flow. Gavin shouts something.

The last thing Michael remembers about that battle is the look in Gavin's eyes as he slings his crossbow over his shoulder and draws his sword. Some kind of wildness so different than anything he's seen before. Rage to rival Michael's as he thrusts his blade through the man's chest.

And then black. Cold and warmth. Fight together, die together. But he doesn't want Gavin to be dead like he is.

And then he wakes up, blinks at the canvas above him. A tent somewhere. The infirmary. He isn't dead, and when he looks over, Gavin is slumped next to his cot. There's a cut across the cheek, but he is otherwise bloodless. Michael feels a dull pain in his stomach as he sits up, touches Gavin's hand. Gavin wakes quickly, blinking, and his eyes go wide for a split second before he smiles at Michael.

 _I thought I almost lost you,_ he says, patting the white bandages over Michael's wound. He holds on to Michael's hand. Michael glances around. No one else in the tent is awake; it must be night time. The battle is over. They made it out. He smiles, holds on tight to Gavin, and pulls him into as tight an embrace as he can take.

From then on, they're always searching for each others touch.

–

The first time Gavin almost dies is on the steppe beyond the bridge. They've been pushing the enemy away from the river for a month and Michael is back in the fray. Men fear them less; they know they can be killed. They just fight harder.

Gavin keeps close to his back with his short sword as Michael takes out one man after another. They glance over their shoulders to meet each others eyes, whisper _live to the end._ Then they turn and duel with a nameless, faceless man. They don't know the names of the men they've killed, all the lives they've taken...

When when Michael looks over his shoulder again, Gavin isn't there. It feels like everything has frozen as he sees the place where Gavin was standing just moments before. _No._ No, no... Michael turns, pushes back past the falling and fighting men, and then he sees his partner kneeling on the ground. Blood and mud soaks his armor as he clutches an arrow in his belly. The same place Michael was shot. Gavin looks up at him, his eyes wide and fearful, lips moving without making any sense. No, no, no...

Fight together, protect each other, die together. But only if they must. He won't let Gavin die here. He sheaths his sword, takes Gavin in his arms, and begins to run. The sounds of battle all fade away and all he hears is his breath and his blood rushing in his ears, and the sound of Gavin's gasps. He will not lose Gavin.

The doctor doesn't let Michael stay in the tent as he removes the arrow. _You are a distraction,_ the man says. So Michael waits outside, but he doesn't go back to battle. Not without his partner. When the doctor finishes, he sits next to Gavin's cot and wills him to open his eyes, smile. The battle ends and Michael worries that he'll never see that smile again before Gavin opens his eyes. Michael holds his hand in both of his, and a laugh bubbles up from his chest as Gavin smiles.

 _You're still alive,_ he says to Gavin.

Gavin glances down, pats his bandages. _Live to the end,_ he whispers, meets Michael's eyes again. Months of war have tamed the wildness somewhat, but in a way there is an even brighter fire. They are as handsome as ever, lively as they've always been. Michael looks around the tent for a moment. Then he decides that he doesn't care what the other men think as he leans down and presses a tender kiss to Gavin's lips, murmurs against his ear, _I think I love you._

Gavin squeezes his hand, hums contentedly into their second kiss, and from then on they share a moment between themselves every night, a soft moment before they have to wake up and cover themselves in the blood of the empire.

–

The empire brings reinforcements two months later, and as they push the king's men back from the steppe, from the bridge, from the plains, Michael begins to fear for them. 

_The king has called you to protect your home,_ the riders said. _War is coming, will you fight?_

He wanted to say no. He was no fighter. But he went anyway, and now he and Gavin lie together in a tent as he says it. _We are going to lose._

Gavin is quiet as his fingers curl around the back of Michael's neck. He takes a breath, but whatever he might say is lost. He simply nods, and it feels like his eyes are looking straight into Michael's heart. He asks in a murmur, _will you die with honor beside me?_

Michael wishes they didn't have to make that choice at all, but what else can they do? His family waits for him, but he can't abandon their cause. He closes his eyes, and he hears the screams of dying men. He sees the lifeless eyes of those he has to step over in every battle. So much death. The blood chokes him.

Gavin's hand moves to stroke his cheek, and Michael opens his eyes again. Gavin's are subdued. He knows it as well as Michael does; they are losing this war.

Fight together, protect each other. _I will die beside you with or without honor,_ Michael says. He takes Gavin's hands and holds them to his chest. Their noses bump as Gavin kisses him like it's their last. _I love you,_ he breathes against Michael's lips. He holds on tightly as Michael moves over him, touches as much skin as he can. The king will pull them back to the capital soon, heaven only knows if they will ever get another chance.

 _Love you, love you,_ Gavin tells him, words no more than a whisper, a quiet moan as their bodies move together, a gasp with each of Michael's thrusts. There's a fire in his eyes as he kisses Michael, holds on relentlessly.

From that night on, they're only waiting.

–

The king calls his armies back to the capital, and a hundred thousand men return to hold their city against the empire. They all know that they're going to lose eventually, but it's on that which they build a new fire – they will fight their last battle with everything they have left. They will die with honor and glory. 

None of them know the names of the men they've killed. They don't know how many families they've wrecked, how many will never see their father, brother, son again. That's how it goes, Michael thinks. This is war. People die. People will die. But he still wishes he knew some of those names. Just a few.

Just to ask forgiveness. 

Just to be able to look at the corpses in his dreams and say to them, _I'm coming to join you, and whatever we have left to settle, we can settle in the underworld._

The men stand guard on the walls as the empire's army approaches. The citizens hide themselves in their homes, and Michael waits with Gavin in the streets. The army comes, and arrows rain down on them. They kill a few, but not enough. The enemy breaks down their walls with stone and fire, retaliates with their own arrows. Then Michael draws his sword as he sees the men in red armor run for them in the streets. He's going to fight with everything he has left.

It feels like his body is moving on his own. All he knows is that he needs to kill as many of these men as he can, that he needs to stay close to Gavin. You fight together and protect each other, and if it must happen, you die together. With or without honor.

This is their last battle, Michael thinks. He can't help but think about what it could have been like. He imagines the battles on the steppe as though they'd won, the empire turning away, deciding their kingdom wasn't worth it. He imagines holding Gavin in his arms as the war is won, as the soldiers are finally given the chance to return to being just farmers and fishers. He imagines going back to his brother and his mother, bringing Gavin back to his little home. They could have gotten married, maybe. It would have been unconventional to the rest of the village, but they could have been happy nonetheless. 

And then he is brought back to their terrible reality as an archer's arrow lodges itself in his shoulder. He's in the middle of the street with a sword still in his hand, and the city is burning as they fight to the death. A man dies in front of him before the pain in his shoulder becomes too much and he drops the blade. He hears his name, and he turns just as Gavin is falling to his knees. His crossbow is gone and the short sword clatters to the ground as his hands cover the deep slash across his side. 

They're both covered in blood. Some of it from their enemies, most of it their own. He falls next to Gavin, and pulls him into his lap. Here, he thinks. Here is where it ends. Live to the end. Gavin's eyes are wide and pained, blood smeared over his face and in his hair, and his breath comes faster and faster.

“I wish we could have had more time,” Michael tells him sadly, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. He manages to pull some semblance of a smile onto his face despite the tears in his eyes. It's okay, he wants to say. It's okay. But no words come out. Gavin gasps for breath as Michael strokes his cheek.

“It's enough,” Gavin says, barely heard over the sound of battle. It's enough. He brings his hand up, tries to touch Michael's face, but can't make it. It drops down, and simply rests against Michael's. It's enough. Gavin struggles to smile at Michael, just like he always did. He takes the deepest breath he can manage and holds it for a few seconds, holds it safe, his last breath.

And as he lets it go, his lips move. There's no sound, but Michael understand his words. 

And he says it back as the fire dies, as Gavin's eyes stare blankly up at him. _Love you, love you..._

“I love you.”

Only then do the tears escape, run down his cheeks and land on Gavin's, making tracks through the blood. The battle goes on and Michael holds his love as tight as he can. When he looks up again, there is a man in red armor looming over him. He stares at the man, at the bloody sword in his hand, prepared to strike.

Live, fight, love. We will die together with or without honor and glory.

And Michael stares up at the man and says with a smile on his lips,

“See you in hell.”


End file.
